Card feeding devices

ABSTRACT

A card feeding device is disclosed in which a block carrying a picker knife is stepped along by means of a first pawl on the block engaging in a reciprocating rack and a second pawl engaging with a stationary rack. Means are provided to disengage the first pawl to interrupt movement of the block and to disengage both pawls to allow the block to return to its initial position.

United States Patent Martin Sept. 4, 1973 CARD FEEDING DEVICES [56] References Cited [75] Inventor: William Redvers John Martin, UNITED STATES PATENTS Bedfordshlre, England 2,707,442 5 1955 Ingold 104/165 [73] Assignee: International Computers Limited,

London, England Primary ExaminerRichard E. Aegerter Filed: Dec. 1971 Attorney-Kath M1segades et al.

[21] App]. No.: 207,816 [57] ABSTRACT I A card feeding device is disclosed in which a block car- [30] Fm'e'gn Apphcat'on Pnomy Data rying a picker knife is stepped along by means of a first Dec. 16, 1970 Great Britain 59,653/70 pawl on the block engaging in a reciprgcating rack and a second pawl engaging with a stationary rack. Means [52] US. Cl 271/54, 74/126, 74/577 ar rovid d to disengage the first pawl to interrupt [51] Illt. Cl B65]! 5/04 ov nt of the block and to disengage both pawls to [58] Fleld of Search 198/218, 227; allow the block to return to its initial position.

6 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures mamcn w 4W 3756590 SHEET 1 0F 2 DFUVE FIGJ.

osuLLATme nmvs CARD FEEDING DEVICES BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION contemplates the provision of 40 springs, each spring advancing a card by two columns when released such that upon release of the last spring, all 80 columns of the card have been presented to the punching station. It has been found, however, that such techniques are costly as 40 springs are required for each feeding device and manufacturing difficulties occur in accurately aligning all 40 springs with columns of the card.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the invention, a mechanism for moving a record card along a predetermined path includes a block having means to engage a record card; a fixed toothed rack and a movable toothed rack extending parallel one to the other; first and second pawls carried on the block, the first pawl engaging with the fixed toothed rack and the second pawl engaging with the movable toothed rack; means for reciprocating the movable toothed rack along its length such that each reciprocation thereof causes the block to be moved away from an initial position and the first and second pawls to engage successively with the teeth along the fixed and movable racks respectively; means for urging the block towards its initial position and means selectively operable to disengage the second pawl from the teeth of the movable rack to interrupt the movement of the block away from the initial position and to disengage both pawls from the teeth of their respectiveracks to permit the block to return to the initial position.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 shows a diagrammatic view of a block assembly and motion producing apparatus therefor.

FIG. 2 shows a diagrammatic view of a modified bail drive for controlling the block assembly of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. I of the drawing, a twin rack mechanism for feeding record cards incrementally, will be described. The dimensions of the mechanism are chosen such that each column of a standard record card is presented to a punching station (not shown).

A block assembly 11 is slidably mounted'on a guide bar in the form of a 'rod 12 to allow a single degree of freedom of movement of block assembly 11. A card picker 13 is fastened or mounted on block 11. A card 10 is moved along a predetermined path parallel to the movement of block assembly 11 as a result of card picker 13 engaging one end of card 10. Block assembly 11 has a recess formed therein in order to allow a pair of pawls 28 and 29 to be mounted on block assembly 11. Pawls 28 and 29 are each pivotably mounted on a shaft 26 which in turn is rigidly mounted on block assembly ll. A'leaf spring which is fastened at the upper end of block assembly 1 l biases pawl 28 into engagement with a fixed rack 14. Similarly, another leaf spring 21 biases pawl 29 into engagement with a movable rack 15. A stop bar 33 is positioned across the recess in the block 11 and is effective to restrict anticlockwise movement, (when viewed as shown in FIG. 1), of the pawls 28 and 29. Rack 14 is rigidly mounted on baseplate 30 while rack 15 is allowed to move on baseplate 30 in a direction shown by arrow 31; this direction being parallel to the axial dimension of rod 12.

A lifting rod 19 is inserted through pawl 29 with an end 22 of rod 19 resting in the bottom of a recess in the front face of pawl 28. End 22 of rod 19 is, for reasons to be described later, smaller in diameter or crosssection than the portion of rod 19 which extends through pawl 29. A bail 16 may be raised and lowered in the direction of arrow 32 upon actuation of bail drive 18, and in turn upon movement of connecting member on arm 17. Movable rack 15 is reciprocated by an oscillating drive 27 in a direction shown by arrow 31. The distance which rack 15 reciprocates is slightly greater than the tooth pitch. A constant force spring 23 is attached at one end to card picker 13, and hence, to block assembly 11 with the remainder of spring 23 being wound on shaft 24 which is rigidly mounted on a baseplate 25 so that a uniform tension is exerted on block assembly 11. I

In operation, block assembly 11 is stepped along fixed rack 14 by the reciprocation of movable rack 15, return of the block assembly 11 under the influence of spring 23 is prevented by the engagement of pawl 28 in successive teeth of the fixed rack 14. Thus, each time pawl 29 engages another tooth of movable rack 15, another column of card 10 is presented to a row of punching knives at a punching station. In this manner, a relatively simple and inexpensive card feeding mechanism is provided. However, in certain cases, it is desirable to add other information to a record card, for example by printing in the top margin of the card. In'order to allow a print wheel to operate satisfactorily, it has been found necessary to reduce the overall card feeding rate. This may be done by actuating bail drive 18 which raises bail 16 such that the ledge of bail 16 contacts lifting rod 19. As bail 16 moves upwards, lifting rod 19 causes pawl 29 to be raised out of engagement with rack 15 while the end 22 of lifting rod 19 is raised to a higher position in the recess of pawl 28. Thus, by raising bail 16 by a predetermined distance, pawl 29 pivots about rod 26 and is disengaged from rack 15 by lifting rod l9.'By controlling the distance through which bail l6 rises, lifting rod 19 is also raised by a fixed amount which is sufficient to disengage pawl 29 from movable rack 15 but is not sufficient to disengage pawl 28 from fixed rack 14. The smaller end portion 22 of the rod 19 together with the size and position of the recess in the pawl 28 ensure that pawl 28 is not also disengaged. In-

this way, record card) will remain stationary for a desired period of time longer than'usual to allow a printing operation, etc., to be effected. The mechanism may be returned to normal operation by lowering bail 16 such that pawl 29 reengages rack 15. This, of course, may be done by removing the actuating force supplied by bail drive 18. i i v 3 Upon completion of punching in all the required columns of record card 10, block assembly 11 is returned to an initial position at the left end of racks 14 and 15. This is done by causing bail 16 to be raised such that lifting rod 19 is raised above the predetermined distance which disengages pawl 29. At this greater distance, end 22 of lifting rod 19 causes pawl 28 to be lifted out of engagement with fixed rack 14. At this point pawls 28 and 29 are lifted out of engagement with respective racks 14 and such that block assembly 11 is returned to the left end of racks 14 and 15 by the tension of spring 23.

Returning to the operation of bail l6, and lifting rod 19, it will be noted that by raising bail 16 and lifting rod 19 to a first predetermined position, pawl 29 is disengaged from movable rack 15 while end 22 of lifting rod 19 is raised but not to a point sufficient to disengage pawl 28 from fixed rack 14. Then, by raising bail 16 and lifting rod 19 to a second and higher position pawl 28 is disengaged from fixed rack 14 with the block assembly 11 then being returned to an initial position. Bail drive 18 may be any conventional device such as a solenoid. Also, a solenoid interposer may be employed to define the first predetermined position (to disengage pawl 29 but not pawl 28). Upon operation of a bail drive solenoid and concurrent operation of the solenoid interposer, bail 16 will be raised to a higher second position through the withdrawal of the interposer to disengage both pawls 28 and 29.

The oscillating device 27 may be a conventional, motor driven eccentric mechanism with the distance of reciprocation being chosen to be slightly greater than the tooth pitch of movable rack 15. While spring 23 has been shown as fastened to card picker 13, spring 23 may be attached to any convenient portion of block assembly 11. Also, while a flat spring 23 has been disclosed, any suitable spring means may be provided to supply a force, preferably a constant force, biassing block assembly 11 towards the initial position. The initial position may be defined by suitable stop elements. Such a stop element may be in the form of an enlarged tooth such as tooth 33 on fixed rack 14 or tooth 34 on movable rack 15. Clearly, other suitable stop elements may be employed.

The bail drive 18 of FIG. 1 may be replaced by the bail drive shown in FIG. 2. In this modified bail drive the bail 16 is urged to an upper position by springs (not shown) and the bail is moved downwards by a pivoted lever 112, one end 113, of the lever 112 engaging the ledge of the bail l6 and the other end of the lever 112 carries a cam follower 111. A cam 108 has a number of equally spaced similar lobes round its periphery and is secured onto a shaft 107. The shaft 107 carries a pawl carrier 102 which is oscillated about the shaft by a lever 101 attached by one end eccentrically to the pawl carrier. The other end of the lever 101 is arranged to be reciprocated by the oscillating drive 27 which drives the movable rack 15 (FIG. 1). A ratchet wheel 103 is secured to the shaft 107 adjacent the pawl carrier 102 and a pawl 104 is pivotally mounted on the pawl carrier 102 to engage with the teeth of the ratchet wheel 103. The pawl 104 is normally maintained out of engagement with the teeth of the ratchet wheel 103 by a spring. An armature 105 of a solenoid 106 acts, upon energisation of the solenoid 106, to press the pawl 104 into engagement with the ratchet wheel 103.

It will be seen that when the lever 101 is reciprocated the pawl carrier 102 is oscillated about the axis of the shaft 107 but, provided the solenoid 106 is unenergised, no movement of the shaft occurs and therefore the cam 108 remains stationary. When a lobe of the tion of the motion (as shown in FIG. 2) of the pawl carrier 102 due to the lever 101 causes the ratchet wheel, shaft and cam to be rotated through an angle. This angle of rotation is arranged to be such that the cam 108 is rotated by an amount to cause the lobe to move out of engagement with the cam follower 111 and to align the mid-point between adjacent lobes with the cam follower 111 thus allowing the bail 16 to rise from the depressed position.

An interposer 114 connected to a solenoid 116 is normally positioned between the lever 112 and an adjustable stop 115, energisation of the solenoid 116 withdrawing the interposer 114 from this position.

If, when the cam is positioned with the midpoint between two adjacent lobes aligned with the cam follower 111, the interposer lies between the lever and the stop screw, the bail is permitted to rise to an intermediate position in which the pawl 29 is disengaged from the movable rack 15. However, if the interposer is withdrawn by energisation of the solenoid 116 the lever is able to pivot further and thereby permitthe bail 16 to rise to its upper position to cause both pawls 28, 29 to be disengaged from their respective racks 14, 15.

When it is desired to depress the bail 16 again to cause the pawls 28, 29 to engage with their respective racks, the solenoid 106 is momentarily energised to cause the pawl 104 to engage the ratchet wheel 103 and thereby result in the ratchet wheel, shaft and cam to be rotated sufficiently for the next lobe of the cam to engage with the cam follower.

The use of a cam wheel as shown in FIG. 2 may be replaced by a cam having a single lobe, by arranging for the shaft 107 to be rotatable through, say 30 both in a clockwise and in an anticlockwise direction. This may be achieved by providing a second ratchet and pawl mechanism selectively operable to rotate the shaft 107 in the opposite direction to that caused by ratchet 103' and pawl 104.

A detent wheel 109, secured to the shaft 107, and a spring-loaded detent lever engagable therewith is provided in order to retain the cam in position until energisation of the solenoid 106 causes a further rotational movement of the shaft 107.

Although a guide bar in the form of a rod 12 has been shown as a means of slidably mounting block assembly 1 1, any suitable track arrangement, feed bed, etc., may

be employed. Also, while card picker 13 is disclosed as being fastened on to block assembly 11, such a card picker 13 may be integrally formed with block assembly 11.

While the recess in pawl 28 is shown as having generally curved surfaces, it is clear that a recess having other types of surfaces, e.g., orthogonal surfaces, will be satisfactory. A feed roll (not shown) which may be positioned so as to be behind block assembly 11 when in the initial position will be helpful to assure that record card 10 is placed in position to be stepped past a punching station by block assembly 11.

I claim:

1. A mechanism for producing incremental linear motion, including a block movable along a predetermined path; a stationary toothed rack and a movable toothed rack each extending parallel with said predetermined path; first and second pawls carried on the block, the first pawl being engagable with teeth of the stationary rack and the second pawl being engagable with teeth of the movable rack; means for reciprocating the movable rack, each reciprocal movement in a forward direction causing, by the engagement of the second pawl with the movable rack, the block to be moved in a first direction away from an initial position along the path, which movement of the block then causes the first pawl to become engaged with a successive tooth of the stationary rack, and each reciprocal movement in a reverse direction permitting the second pawl to become engaged with a successive tooth of the movable rack; means for urging the block in a second direction, opposite to said first direction, towards its initial position; and means selectively operable to disengage the second pawl from a tooth of the movable rack to interrupt the movement of the block away from said initial position and to disengage both pawls, each from a tooth of its respective rack to permit the block to return to said initial position.

2. A mechanism as claimed in claim 1 including a bail; means on the block movable by the bail and effective when in a first position to disengage the second pawl and when in a second position to disengage the first pawl as well as the second pawl from the respective rack or racks.

3. A mechanism as claimed in claim 2 including a first solenoid selectively operable to move the bail between an initial position and a second position; an interposer; and a second solenoid selectively operable to position the interposer to define a first position of the bail intermediate said initial and second positions.

4. A mechanism as claimed in claim 2 including a cam effective when in a first position to position the bail in a first position and effective when in a second position to position the bail in a second position; means selectively operable to move the cam between said first and second positions; an interposer; means for selectively positioning the interposer to prevent movement of the bail to said secondposition thereby positioning the bail in a third position intermediate said first and second positions.

5. A mechanism as claimed in claim 4 in which the means for moving the cam is driven by the means for reciprocating the movable rack.

6. A mechanism as claimed in claim 4 in which the cam has a plurality of cam lobes equally spaced by depressions; a shaft carrying the cam and a ratchet wheel affixed thereto; a pawl carrier movably supported on the shaft, the pawl carrier having pivotally mounted thereon a pawl arranged to be moved selectively into engagement with the ratchet wheel; means for continuously reciprocally moving the pawl carrier angularly about the shaft to rotate the ratchet wheel when the pawl is engaged therewith through an angle such that the cam is moved from a first position in which a lobe thereof is effective to position the bail, to a second position in which a depression thereof is effective to position the bail. 

1. A mechanism for producing incremental linear motion, including a block movable along a predetermined path; a stationary toothed rack and a movable toothed rack each extending parallel with said predetermined path; first and second pawls carried on the block, the first pawl being engagable with teeth of the stationary rack and the second pawl being engagable with teeth of the movable rack; means for reciprocating the movable rack, each reciprocal movement in a forward direction causing, by the engagement of the second pawl with the movable rack, the block to be moved in a first direction away from an initial position along the path, which movement of the block then causes the first pawl to become engaged with a successive tooth of the stationary rack, and each reciprocal movement in a reverse direction permitting the second pawl to become engaged with a successive tooth of the movable rack; means for urging the block in a second direction, opposite to said first direction, towards its initial position; and means selectively operable to disengage the second pawl from a tooth of the movable rack to interrupt the movement of the block away from said initial position and to disengage both pawls, each from a tooth of its respective rack to permit the block to return to said initial position.
 2. A mechanism as claimed in claim 1 including a bail; means On the block movable by the bail and effective when in a first position to disengage the second pawl and when in a second position to disengage the first pawl as well as the second pawl from the respective rack or racks.
 3. A mechanism as claimed in claim 2 including a first solenoid selectively operable to move the bail between an initial position and a second position; an interposer; and a second solenoid selectively operable to position the interposer to define a first position of the bail intermediate said initial and second positions.
 4. A mechanism as claimed in claim 2 including a cam effective when in a first position to position the bail in a first position and effective when in a second position to position the bail in a second position; means selectively operable to move the cam between said first and second positions; an interposer; means for selectively positioning the interposer to prevent movement of the bail to said second position thereby positioning the bail in a third position intermediate said first and second positions.
 5. A mechanism as claimed in claim 4 in which the means for moving the cam is driven by the means for reciprocating the movable rack.
 6. A mechanism as claimed in claim 4 in which the cam has a plurality of cam lobes equally spaced by depressions; a shaft carrying the cam and a ratchet wheel affixed thereto; a pawl carrier movably supported on the shaft, the pawl carrier having pivotally mounted thereon a pawl arranged to be moved selectively into engagement with the ratchet wheel; means for continuously reciprocally moving the pawl carrier angularly about the shaft to rotate the ratchet wheel when the pawl is engaged therewith through an angle such that the cam is moved from a first position in which a lobe thereof is effective to position the bail, to a second position in which a depression thereof is effective to position the bail. 